You keep pointing out cold weather, but does it get really hot inside in the summer, since it's so compact and closed in? Just curious. Also where can someone from U.S. purchase one? I tried looking them up, and they're all from Europe and sold in Europe. 😕
They are made in europe you have to have them shipped and brought through customs. Theres velomobiel.nl they do the snoek, quattrevelo, and quest velomobiles. Then theres velomobileworld.com in romania, they sell the the bülk, milan and a couple other models to the us. Theres also a new dealer in the us called northland velo northlandvelo.com out of minneapolis he sells velomobile world velomobiles and has them shipped in via container and keeps some in stock for test rides. To answer ur question for hot weather riding they get hot wen you are climbing or going slow. But normal cruising speed for a velomobile is around 20 mph on flat pavement. At that speed usually u get adequate ventilation. On the bülk the opening is quite large so u can remove all the hoods and open all vents for quite a bit of air flow. On the quest xs it has air that comes in from the bottom and top. Being inside the velomobile during warm weather is not that bad especially cuz it does block the sun. On my quest xs wen i have to climb a lot of hills i run a 12v fan inside to help circulate air. But i can probably do a video this week cuz its supposed to be almost 100f this week can probably do an open trike vs velomobile temperatures.
I'd say it's a somewhat unfair comparison (especially with a Brompton). While the velomobile will be more comfortable for the rider (probably) in every way, it matters a lot where, how and for what you want to use your bike. If you ride in a safe space just for the pleasure of it, sure velomobile is the way. If it's a mixture of everything other than a safe space, well that Brompton will steal the show just by how practical and compact it is. It's more of a "Why and when one chooses a velomobile over an upright bike" kind of question. btw both bikes look awesome, good taste sir!
I can use my roadbike instead as a comparison. But in this video i was referring to upright bikes in general so i think the brompton was a good choice here. The brompron drives home one of the main benefits of an upright bike over a velomobile and that is ease of transport. Now keep in mind bomptons are made for multi mode transportation like going between trains and buses in a congested city. The brompton has no luggage space not even a place to mount a water bottle because its made for short trips at low speed. To carry water and gear u need a camelbak or u can buy the front bag or rear rack but u still got nowhere to mount a water bottle. The brompton is probably one of the most upright positions out of all the bikes i own its like a beach cruiser without the backswept bars. The brompton is also great for wen u go on vacation and u just want to take a bike with u and u dont want to use a bike rack or take up a lot of space in ur car of course you can always strap a velomobile to the roof of ur car but u basically gotta lock it to ur car at night cuz u cant fit them thru hotel room doors. Bromptons are very slow due to their design, this is a newer one the wheels are still small so u dont get as much leverage for speed, mine has 6 speed which is the most they come in, ur only other option is going to be a rohloff hub or a schlumpf speed drive but most scenarios im going about 10mph avg on my brompton, its better than walking but i dont find it comfortable to ride for longer distances but i did find them clever putting in an elastomer for rear suspension, it has very limited adjustability again geared towards its short trip design. Now people have toured long distance with bromptons but if its a choice between a brompton and my velomobile for a long ride its a no brainer the velomobiles or any recumbent trike i own will be my 1st choice.
I might also add that a standard, two wheeled recumbent (my preference is the long wheelbase type) is a valuable alternative to upright bikes and much more practical and affordable than a velomobile@@Skisproductions
@@jmilton5842 i left out the 2 wheeled recumbent because i was specifically comparing to upright bikes and a 2 wheeled recumbent is not an upright bike its another recumbent. Which the 2 wheeled recumbents would share the seating position and comfort from the seating position but lacks everything else the velomobile provides. But yes a recumbent bike can be had at a much lower price point for example the performer low racer brand new would run u around 3k with shipping and taxes. Which is a little more than my brompton.
It lacks portability as in u can just easily pick it up and carry it around, you can pick it up and carry it but its a bulky item to carry it's more like a car replacement. I personally dont bring it in my front door and thats one of the downsides to a velomobile is the transportability of it. However that being said if anybody does steal it its so unique and there is a community of velonauts and usually they can identify who the owner is, also they stand out and people take pics and videos everywhere u go in one so you are very likely to recover it if the theif doesnt destroy it or repaint it especially if they ever try and post it online usually the owner will be notified most fellow velonauts even know each others serial numbers and the manufacturer will recognize the velomobile they built for a certain person so once the owner makes a post online letting others know its been stolen usually it dont take long to be recovered. One guy in europe had his velomobile stolen and it was cut up into peices out of spite he suspects by a neighbor but i beleive he found it within 48hours destroyed they left all the parts so it wasnt for that. You can also pit a tracker in ur velomobile like an air tag, samsung galaxy tag, or even a gps tracker that runs off ur 12v battery. I place game cameras around where i store mine as well that way i have people on camera. Ive been tagged by people b4 in social media posts of strangers taking pics of me while riding. Also it makes it very easy for police to identify it as they are not that common in the us. So they are usually not theft targets also the value of them makes theft an instant felony. And the cost to repaint them or if another rider in ur state suddenly shows up out of nowhere and the manufacturer hasnt made one for that person sends up a red flag velonauts tend to look out for one another. That being said i have locked mine up outside and i have bicycle insurance thru velosure in case it does get stolen as long as it was locked up properly they will cover it. Alternatively you can buy an enclosed trailer and store it inside an enclosed trailer that locks up or rent a storage unit for it. You can fit them thru double doors and most doors that are handicapped accessible. There is a person who stores theirs on a rolling vertical stand inside their house to save space but u have to have the ceiling height to do that. You can store it in ur yard locked up to ur house under a cover they make velomobile covers or u can use some camo netting and get creative u can also buy whats called a motocabin costs about 3k usd and its a hard shelled motorcycle storage system that can be locked and i beleive u can even anchor it to the ground for permanent placement. So theres alternatives. Or u can simply lock it up outside, i know u say ur worried about theft but u can cover it and lock it thru the rear wheel which cant be removed without special tools and the know how to remove it and u can insure it as well, it shouod be civered by theft by ur renters/homeowners insurance as well just make sure u have the proper value set.
Then maybe a velomobile is not for you. Alternative is to build a protective covering. But I live in the city. The velomobile is still unique there is little incentive to steal it as everyone in the city knows me .
@@Skisproductions They could strip it for parts, like they do motorbikes. particulalry if you have fancy stuff like a rohloff hub, shimano steps motor etc.
Have a recumbnt trike but wouldnt want a velo as the youtubers that ride them get punctures all the time when riding them which can be a pain to sort. Maintenance will be harder. I don't know if they will fit in cycle lanes in the uk. You will have visibility issues in cold weather. They are very expensive
I haven't seen any TH-cam videos of velomobiles getting flats. I've shown the 1 flat I got on my bulk on my channel and the time it took me to change the tube out was quite fast. the longest part was pumping it back up cuz I had a mini pump. I've now switched to carrying a lezyne travel floor drive pump so that won't be an issue in the future. That being said it also depends on which tires you are running and what terrain you are running them on and how worn out they are. Schwalbe pro ones wear out in about 2k mi which you can usually put that many mi on a velomobile in about 6-7months riding 5 days a week. I think a lot of people run their tires past where they should on velomobiles. My pro ones were so worn out at the 2k mi mark a tiny piece of gravel actually worked its way thru my tire and popped the tube on my tour de pa. Schwalbe pro ones, one, and duranos are meant for pavement not gravel. I have since switched to continental contact urban tires which are the good balance between puncture resistance and speed. They also seem to have a lot longer tread life than the pro ones. I take them on gravel and hit glass and stuff with them and they don't get flats. The only flat I've gotten on them in the past 2k mi I show in my 1 video and that was a pinch flat from a big blocky piece of gravel that hit the tire just right. And changing tubes on a velo is actually quicker because you don't have to take the wheel off. Even the rear wheel is on a single sided swing arm and you can change the rear tube without removing the wheel. Just put the seat pad down and roll it onto its side.
They are great for countryside cruising. Ive also ridden mine in the cities wen i ride into the cities for shopping. I dont like using mine in the dense city cuz it gets a lot of attention and i feel like im about to get bike jacked. Got people yellin and whistlin, people takin vids a pics like im a celebrity rolling thru town. I used to ride down to the city almost every day to see my wife in the hospital. So not just for countryside.
@@Skisproductions That is great to hear. Sure, I used to ride my velomobile Strada in the city of Utrecht. But I found trikes to be more convenient in the dense Dutch city. Easier to get on and off, better downward vision, easier use a chainlock on one of three wheels, parking in the bike parking garage was possible (yes, Utrecht has many bike parking garages for free).
@@mardiffv.8775 i lock my velomobile thru the rear wheel with a cable or thru the lift handle. I never used a bike corral. I usually just lock it to a support beam, street light, or a tree. Theres usually no bike parking anywhere. Sometimes theres a bike rack thats not even bolted to the ground.
I disagree. I use a Leitra velomobile and it is very at home in the city as in the country. It's my daily commuter, shopping ride, and long distance Tourer.
Its not for everyone. But yea its all pedal powered. Id say velomobiles are for cyclists that want to ride all year round comfortably. Or who just want to ride faster and be comfortable with less effort. If uve never ridden a recumbent and ur a cyclist id highly recommend u go try one. Most people look at u like ur a personnin a wheel chair. And they think recumbents are only for disabled people. Well they are comfortable, and wen u need a break u just stop and enjoy ur seat.
That is entirely not true. I have taken my velomobiles down some pretty rough gravel trails and even some single track. Most modern commercially made velomobiles have full suspension to deal with pot holes, gravel, and other imperfections of the road. While yes they run much smoother on a clean smooth road like any other road bike they can also go off road. You can see me going down a gravel rail trail in my srt hamburg video at about 30mph and u can tell its quite smooth a little noisy.
@@Skisproductions okay, but what about visible on the road? People often don't notice me on a regular bike whereas velomobile is much lower to the ground and practically invisible in traffic
@@furivno Around the 6:06 mark i do cover how velomobiles tend to stand out more than an upright bike on the road. Theres a popular misconception that being low to the ground means you are invisible. I can assure you that is not the case. I have had people stop me and say i saw u riding on such and such road, or somebody they know saw me riding on the road, but its always "i saw you, they saw you". I have asked a lot of drivers wen they stop to talk to me about my velomobile how visible i am from their perspective and they usually say im very visible and they saw me from pretty far away. Ive even asked truckers how well they could see me at night from their semis and they tell me no problem i was very visible. I have experienced a lot more near misses riding my cannondale supersix road bike than i ever had riding my velomobile and every time i hop back on my riad bike to go after a hill kom im reminded of just how close drivers come to hitting me on my road bike the velomibile gives the impression that its wider than what it is because all of its width is right next tot he ground giving it a large foot print, the road bike carries all its width up high making it look very skinny and giving a small footprint and drivers think they have more room than wat they do wen they are overtaking upright bikes because they are looking at the distance from ur wheel not ur handle bars. But there are still those people that beleive cyclists cant or shouldnt be allowed to ride on the road or that anything slower than them shouldnt be allowed on the road or they think u can only be on roads that are marked for cyclists. But most interactions i have with drivers are positive and all i can do is try and educate more people about laws regarding cyclists on the road, most people who see my velomibile are excited to learn about it and take pics and videos of it. If youtube woukd let me id post a pic a driver took of me in dense traffic last week and they told me they had no issues seeing me. I also get asked why i dont run whip flags and im going to answer that in another video
@@Skisproductions I asume they act a bit like recumbent trikes with suspension,. The rear wheel of mine with rear suspension loses traction at speed on sweeping bends if road surface rough which can be scary.
You keep pointing out cold weather, but does it get really hot inside in the summer, since it's so compact and closed in? Just curious. Also where can someone from U.S. purchase one? I tried looking them up, and they're all from Europe and sold in Europe. 😕
They are made in europe you have to have them shipped and brought through customs. Theres velomobiel.nl they do the snoek, quattrevelo, and quest velomobiles. Then theres velomobileworld.com in romania, they sell the the bülk, milan and a couple other models to the us. Theres also a new dealer in the us called northland velo northlandvelo.com out of minneapolis he sells velomobile world velomobiles and has them shipped in via container and keeps some in stock for test rides. To answer ur question for hot weather riding they get hot wen you are climbing or going slow. But normal cruising speed for a velomobile is around 20 mph on flat pavement. At that speed usually u get adequate ventilation. On the bülk the opening is quite large so u can remove all the hoods and open all vents for quite a bit of air flow. On the quest xs it has air that comes in from the bottom and top. Being inside the velomobile during warm weather is not that bad especially cuz it does block the sun. On my quest xs wen i have to climb a lot of hills i run a 12v fan inside to help circulate air. But i can probably do a video this week cuz its supposed to be almost 100f this week can probably do an open trike vs velomobile temperatures.
I'd say it's a somewhat unfair comparison (especially with a Brompton). While the velomobile will be more comfortable for the rider (probably) in every way, it matters a lot where, how and for what you want to use your bike. If you ride in a safe space just for the pleasure of it, sure velomobile is the way. If it's a mixture of everything other than a safe space, well that Brompton will steal the show just by how practical and compact it is.
It's more of a "Why and when one chooses a velomobile over an upright bike" kind of question.
btw both bikes look awesome, good taste sir!
I can use my roadbike instead as a comparison. But in this video i was referring to upright bikes in general so i think the brompton was a good choice here. The brompron drives home one of the main benefits of an upright bike over a velomobile and that is ease of transport. Now keep in mind bomptons are made for multi mode transportation like going between trains and buses in a congested city. The brompton has no luggage space not even a place to mount a water bottle because its made for short trips at low speed. To carry water and gear u need a camelbak or u can buy the front bag or rear rack but u still got nowhere to mount a water bottle. The brompton is probably one of the most upright positions out of all the bikes i own its like a beach cruiser without the backswept bars. The brompton is also great for wen u go on vacation and u just want to take a bike with u and u dont want to use a bike rack or take up a lot of space in ur car of course you can always strap a velomobile to the roof of ur car but u basically gotta lock it to ur car at night cuz u cant fit them thru hotel room doors. Bromptons are very slow due to their design, this is a newer one the wheels are still small so u dont get as much leverage for speed, mine has 6 speed which is the most they come in, ur only other option is going to be a rohloff hub or a schlumpf speed drive but most scenarios im going about 10mph avg on my brompton, its better than walking but i dont find it comfortable to ride for longer distances but i did find them clever putting in an elastomer for rear suspension, it has very limited adjustability again geared towards its short trip design. Now people have toured long distance with bromptons but if its a choice between a brompton and my velomobile for a long ride its a no brainer the velomobiles or any recumbent trike i own will be my 1st choice.
I might also add that a standard, two wheeled recumbent (my preference is the long wheelbase type) is a valuable alternative to upright bikes and much more practical and affordable than a velomobile@@Skisproductions
@@jmilton5842 i left out the 2 wheeled recumbent because i was specifically comparing to upright bikes and a 2 wheeled recumbent is not an upright bike its another recumbent. Which the 2 wheeled recumbents would share the seating position and comfort from the seating position but lacks everything else the velomobile provides. But yes a recumbent bike can be had at a much lower price point for example the performer low racer brand new would run u around 3k with shipping and taxes. Which is a little more than my brompton.
Love the Brompton!! Light, foldable and handles well for what it is. I had one in the city and it was a great way to get around!
Great for portability vs the velomobile. Especially wen using public transportation and u want to take ur bike with u.
How do I get that through my front door? Outside itll get stolen the moment i turn around
It lacks portability as in u can just easily pick it up and carry it around, you can pick it up and carry it but its a bulky item to carry it's more like a car replacement. I personally dont bring it in my front door and thats one of the downsides to a velomobile is the transportability of it. However that being said if anybody does steal it its so unique and there is a community of velonauts and usually they can identify who the owner is, also they stand out and people take pics and videos everywhere u go in one so you are very likely to recover it if the theif doesnt destroy it or repaint it especially if they ever try and post it online usually the owner will be notified most fellow velonauts even know each others serial numbers and the manufacturer will recognize the velomobile they built for a certain person so once the owner makes a post online letting others know its been stolen usually it dont take long to be recovered. One guy in europe had his velomobile stolen and it was cut up into peices out of spite he suspects by a neighbor but i beleive he found it within 48hours destroyed they left all the parts so it wasnt for that. You can also pit a tracker in ur velomobile like an air tag, samsung galaxy tag, or even a gps tracker that runs off ur 12v battery. I place game cameras around where i store mine as well that way i have people on camera. Ive been tagged by people b4 in social media posts of strangers taking pics of me while riding. Also it makes it very easy for police to identify it as they are not that common in the us. So they are usually not theft targets also the value of them makes theft an instant felony. And the cost to repaint them or if another rider in ur state suddenly shows up out of nowhere and the manufacturer hasnt made one for that person sends up a red flag velonauts tend to look out for one another. That being said i have locked mine up outside and i have bicycle insurance thru velosure in case it does get stolen as long as it was locked up properly they will cover it. Alternatively you can buy an enclosed trailer and store it inside an enclosed trailer that locks up or rent a storage unit for it. You can fit them thru double doors and most doors that are handicapped accessible. There is a person who stores theirs on a rolling vertical stand inside their house to save space but u have to have the ceiling height to do that. You can store it in ur yard locked up to ur house under a cover they make velomobile covers or u can use some camo netting and get creative u can also buy whats called a motocabin costs about 3k usd and its a hard shelled motorcycle storage system that can be locked and i beleive u can even anchor it to the ground for permanent placement. So theres alternatives. Or u can simply lock it up outside, i know u say ur worried about theft but u can cover it and lock it thru the rear wheel which cant be removed without special tools and the know how to remove it and u can insure it as well, it shouod be civered by theft by ur renters/homeowners insurance as well just make sure u have the proper value set.
I promise you no one is going to steal one of these
Then maybe a velomobile is not for you. Alternative is to build a protective covering. But I live in the city. The velomobile is still unique there is little incentive to steal it as everyone in the city knows me .
@@bruhdenegressive7887actually a few get stolen each year in Europe. But most of the time they are quickly recovered, due to their uniqueness
@@Skisproductions They could strip it for parts, like they do motorbikes. particulalry if you have fancy stuff like a rohloff hub, shimano steps motor etc.
Have a recumbnt trike but wouldnt want a velo as the youtubers that ride them get punctures all the time when riding them which can be a pain to sort. Maintenance will be harder. I don't know if they will fit in cycle lanes in the uk. You will have visibility issues in cold weather. They are very expensive
I haven't seen any TH-cam videos of velomobiles getting flats. I've shown the 1 flat I got on my bulk on my channel and the time it took me to change the tube out was quite fast. the longest part was pumping it back up cuz I had a mini pump. I've now switched to carrying a lezyne travel floor drive pump so that won't be an issue in the future. That being said it also depends on which tires you are running and what terrain you are running them on and how worn out they are. Schwalbe pro ones wear out in about 2k mi which you can usually put that many mi on a velomobile in about 6-7months riding 5 days a week. I think a lot of people run their tires past where they should on velomobiles. My pro ones were so worn out at the 2k mi mark a tiny piece of gravel actually worked its way thru my tire and popped the tube on my tour de pa. Schwalbe pro ones, one, and duranos are meant for pavement not gravel. I have since switched to continental contact urban tires which are the good balance between puncture resistance and speed. They also seem to have a lot longer tread life than the pro ones. I take them on gravel and hit glass and stuff with them and they don't get flats. The only flat I've gotten on them in the past 2k mi I show in my 1 video and that was a pinch flat from a big blocky piece of gravel that hit the tire just right. And changing tubes on a velo is actually quicker because you don't have to take the wheel off. Even the rear wheel is on a single sided swing arm and you can change the rear tube without removing the wheel. Just put the seat pad down and roll it onto its side.
Interesting but you could have been more concise
I tried to make a shorter one but i feel like it leaves out too much info.
Okie-Dokie. Thanks. @@Skisproductions
I agree with everything you said. I call velomobiles; countryside cruisers.
They are great for countryside cruising. Ive also ridden mine in the cities wen i ride into the cities for shopping. I dont like using mine in the dense city cuz it gets a lot of attention and i feel like im about to get bike jacked. Got people yellin and whistlin, people takin vids a pics like im a celebrity rolling thru town. I used to ride down to the city almost every day to see my wife in the hospital. So not just for countryside.
@@Skisproductions That is great to hear. Sure, I used to ride my velomobile Strada in the city of Utrecht. But I found trikes to be more convenient in the dense Dutch city.
Easier to get on and off, better downward vision, easier use a chainlock on one of three wheels, parking in the bike parking garage was possible (yes, Utrecht has many bike parking garages for free).
@@mardiffv.8775 i lock my velomobile thru the rear wheel with a cable or thru the lift handle. I never used a bike corral. I usually just lock it to a support beam, street light, or a tree. Theres usually no bike parking anywhere. Sometimes theres a bike rack thats not even bolted to the ground.
I disagree. I use a Leitra velomobile and it is very at home in the city as in the country. It's my daily commuter, shopping ride, and long distance Tourer.
@@JimmPratt Sure you can use your Leitra too in the city, I was just saying that velomobiles are in their optimum environment in the countryside.
Idk bruh looks pretty stupid but who am I to judge if your pedaling good for you and you have every right to ride it out their
Its not for everyone. But yea its all pedal powered. Id say velomobiles are for cyclists that want to ride all year round comfortably. Or who just want to ride faster and be comfortable with less effort. If uve never ridden a recumbent and ur a cyclist id highly recommend u go try one. Most people look at u like ur a personnin a wheel chair. And they think recumbents are only for disabled people. Well they are comfortable, and wen u need a break u just stop and enjoy ur seat.
you can ride a velomobile only on a good clean road without any potholes
That is entirely not true. I have taken my velomobiles down some pretty rough gravel trails and even some single track. Most modern commercially made velomobiles have full suspension to deal with pot holes, gravel, and other imperfections of the road. While yes they run much smoother on a clean smooth road like any other road bike they can also go off road. You can see me going down a gravel rail trail in my srt hamburg video at about 30mph and u can tell its quite smooth a little noisy.
@@Skisproductions okay, but what about visible on the road? People often don't notice me on a regular bike whereas velomobile is much lower to the ground and practically invisible in traffic
@@furivno Around the 6:06 mark i do cover how velomobiles tend to stand out more than an upright bike on the road. Theres a popular misconception that being low to the ground means you are invisible. I can assure you that is not the case. I have had people stop me and say i saw u riding on such and such road, or somebody they know saw me riding on the road, but its always "i saw you, they saw you". I have asked a lot of drivers wen they stop to talk to me about my velomobile how visible i am from their perspective and they usually say im very visible and they saw me from pretty far away. Ive even asked truckers how well they could see me at night from their semis and they tell me no problem i was very visible. I have experienced a lot more near misses riding my cannondale supersix road bike than i ever had riding my velomobile and every time i hop back on my riad bike to go after a hill kom im reminded of just how close drivers come to hitting me on my road bike the velomibile gives the impression that its wider than what it is because all of its width is right next tot he ground giving it a large foot print, the road bike carries all its width up high making it look very skinny and giving a small footprint and drivers think they have more room than wat they do wen they are overtaking upright bikes because they are looking at the distance from ur wheel not ur handle bars. But there are still those people that beleive cyclists cant or shouldnt be allowed to ride on the road or that anything slower than them shouldnt be allowed on the road or they think u can only be on roads that are marked for cyclists. But most interactions i have with drivers are positive and all i can do is try and educate more people about laws regarding cyclists on the road, most people who see my velomibile are excited to learn about it and take pics and videos of it. If youtube woukd let me id post a pic a driver took of me in dense traffic last week and they told me they had no issues seeing me. I also get asked why i dont run whip flags and im going to answer that in another video
Depends on the velomobile. Some have larger tired and full suspension. But generally, yes, they are best used on smooth, fast roads
@@Skisproductions I asume they act a bit like recumbent trikes with suspension,. The rear wheel of mine with rear suspension loses traction at speed on sweeping bends if road surface rough which can be scary.